THREE

Little girl...

You turn three today and I want to tell you some of the things I love about you.
Of course, I love you because you're mine. That's obvious...and the reality is that it's the biggest reason I love you. The fact that God gifted you to Mommy and me still amazes me.

But I think there are some other things...some "three-year-old girl" things...that make me love you.

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• I love it when you come out of your room decked out in a pajama shirt, swim trunks, with a scarf around your neck and a tiara on your head. You change clothes about 12 times a day...all on your own. It's quite a pain really, but about as cute as anything. I guess "cute" beats "convenience."
  
  
• I love how much you love your Mommy. I love that you look like her and want her when you're sad. You don't even know it yet, but God has given you an amazing Mom. You'll see.
  
  
• I love that you get along with your brother. I love that you guys take up for each other and that you cry for him when he's at school. I love that you want to be like him...I love that you love him so much.
  
  
• I love to see you come down the hall each morning after waking up. Your hair is always ridiculously tall and those blue eyes are sparkling. Each morning, when you see us, you throw your arms up and break into a run. I love mornings with you, Finley.
  
  
• I love that you love donuts. 'Cause that proves you're a Wright.
  
  
• I love it that you're trying to talk like a big girl. Even though you say every woman you meet is named "Leslie" and you pronounce your S-sounds as Fs. You're not a big girl yet and I love that you're still little...but to see you trying so hard to adjust to the world around you inspires me and makes me grateful for every day with you.
  
  
• I love the way you watch "The Polar Express." It comes alive in your face and I'm reminded that you're able to see magic in places where I don't.
  
  
• I love your laugh. That loud, giggling, belly-laugh of yours is enough to get me through the toughest of days. I want to hear that laugh for the rest of my life.

Someday, Finley, maybe you'll look back and read this.
And it might mean something...or it might not.
But that won't matter. Because I'm decided. My life and my words and my actions will speak all of this love (and more) to you every day. You won't need memoirs or journals to know what your Daddy thinks of you, girl.
In fact, you'll be filled up with the knowledge of how much you mean to Daddy and you'll carry that love no matter where you go.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.
Daddy loves you.

FINLEY HEARTS BOOKS

todd vlog episode "finley reads" from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

STAGE DAD

This is Finley performing last Sunday with "Snapshots," her Sunday morning class.


SNAPSHOTS Performance 12/14/08! from Bethel Bible Church on Vimeo.


She's on the far right.

Take note of a few things...

1. 00:11 to 00:44 - lays on floor, rest head right on floor monitor.
2. 00:44 to 01:39 - stands, mills around, sees Daddy's guitar, plays with stool.
3. 1:39 to 2:55 - tries to climb on stool, fails, dances, waves at Mommy, mills around.
4. 2:55 to 3:10 - tries to make a break for it.
5. 3:20 to 3:25 - walks over to Daddy's music stand, plays with pen. (Hear the laughter?)
6. 3:25 to 3:35 - volunteer Greg Kimmel dashes across the front and quietly encourages Finley to return to the group.
7. 3:39 - Finley glares at Greg Kimmel and shuffles back to Mrs. Cay. (Hear more laughter?)
   

From The Finley Files...

I was checking Twitter the other night and Finley points to a tiny picture in my TwitterFox window and yells,

"MR. DAVID!"










They miss him almost as much as I do.

Country (Girl)

Country Dance! from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

On Rain...

It rained pretty hard on Tuesday.

Krist, Jonah and I carried Finley to school before dropping off Jonah and Mom at Bible Study.

And as I toted my daughter across the parking lot in her pink rain coat while I got drenched, I had this thought....

"Why is rain the man's thing?"

Think about it, guys. Chances are that if you're with a significant other and it's raining, there's some unwritten rule that it's YOUR job to get out of the car. (To get the mail, pick up the kids, buy a few things from the store, pay for gas, etc.)

I guess it's a nobility thing...the man makes the sacrifice for those he loves.

Plus, a guy who's afraid to get wet is just kind of pathetic, isn't it?

(But it IS okay if that guy cringes every time he glances lightning in the sky, Kristen.)

I need to stop watching StormChasers.

My Friday...

Finley woke up at 6:15. She's now discovered how to open the door to her room, so now, instead of calling us, we hear her rummaging around in the kitchen...which is something you do not want your 2-year old doing.

(While I as leading worship at camp, Kristen walked in one afternoon to find her at the kitchen counter eating peanut butter. With an ink pen.)

So, we hear Finley in the kitchen and Kristen mumbles...

"i got...first...yester...your...turn..."

It made me so angry. Doesn't she know I was up late watching Arrested Development and eating cereal? Don't I need my rest?

Anyway, I got up, got Finley her apple juice and we lounged in the living room while Jonah and Kristen slept.

And slept.

And slept.

Jonah woke up just before 8. Finley was so excited to see him she grabbed his hand and started kissing it. (We're really blessed in that our two kids really do LOVE hanging out together!)

Not long after, Kristen got up. I went through a little moral dilemma at that time - sleep or exercise.?

I chose exercise. Ran on the treadmill for a while, then grabbed a shower and got dressed. We didn't really have any plans for the day. (We've been trying to stay at home as much as possible, since gas prices are little bit higher than normal. Don't know if you've noticed...)

The kids were dressed so I decided to run up the road and visit with my grandparents. It's weird - they live literally fifty yards from us and yet we have a hard time meeting up. Gotta' fix that.

Anyway, Jonah, Finley and I hung out there for about a half-hour then ran back home to pick up Krist. We ran to the bank and then decided to pop in and see Kristen's dad, who works out of town during the week. We ended up eating lunch over there, which was nice. After hanging out and "visitin'," we headed back home.

Put Finley down for a nap, Jonah fired up the Wii, Kristen read a magazine and I snuck in a nap!

After the nap, we all went over to see visit my Dad for awhile. We had a really good time. Dad is moving around pretty good on the walker and doing a good job of dealing with all of the stuff that comes from having an accident like that. We ate supper, plowed through dozens of chocolate donuts (another story for another day...my Dad really needs a blog, by the way.)

The kids played, we all hung around and talked and laughed for a good while. We got home a little before 8pm and threw the kids in the tub. Finley went to bed (but not to sleep) pretty quick and Jonah went to sleep a little after 9. I ran to CVS to pick up some stuff then came back home. At one point earlier in the evening, Kristen had released me to go see Batman, but we're headed out of town tomorrow and a 3 hour superhero movie might be something I regret tomorrow morning. I'll get to it next week probably.

While Kristen lounged around, I actually hit the treadmill AGAIN! Yes...that's 2 workouts in one day. Why? Why not?

After exercise, showered, got some stuff together for the trip on Saturday and went to bed!
_________________
I asked this a few weeks ago: Won't somebody else do a "My Friday" post? It would be such a cool tradition! You could even use the little logo up top. We could start a worldwide blogging movement.

Live From The Highchair...

Thursday morning, Finley and I were in the kitchen eating breakfast.

I finish my cereal and walk over and pour myself a nice tall glass of chocolate milk.

Now, we don't keep chocolate milk in our house. Or, I should say that we can't keep chocolate milk in our house.

Because I will consume it.
All.
In one day.

But Kristen's mom had brough groceries last week and got some of that delicious stuff for us (I mean, me.)

So, I pour a glass and notice that Finley is staring at it.

"That?" she said softly.

Now, I had offered her some a few days ago and she declined.

"What, baby?"

"That?"

"That's chocolate milk," I say.

I wish I could adequately describe what happened. Her face fell into a hilarious look of utter confusion, as if she was saying,

"Wha - but you - chocolate? You...you...you can't do that."

It was a look of horror and shock and bewilderment at what this crazy grown-up world does do its milk.

But it also meant that she didn't want any. Bottoms up!

MONDAY NIGHT!

What do the Wrights (sans Mommy) do on a quite Monday afternoon?

We make movies.



And, of course, we gotta' do for Jonah what we do for Finley...



We tried to capture Jonah and Finley's "Kick, Kick, Kick," but the lighting wasn't too good. But the audio from Jonah's laugh is priceless...hope your Monday night is turning out half as fun as mine!

My Friday...and it's a long one

Jonah woke up at 5:20 but thankfully went back to his bed (instead of climbing in ours...)

After I took him back upstairs, I sat in the living room for a minute or two while he went back to sleep. While I was waiting, I grabbed the laptop. (I know it's weird. It's what I do.)

I checked a few emails and looked to see if any of my night-owl friends had posted anything while I was sleeping. When I opened my browser my eyes immediately saw "Top 100 Guitar Songs Of All Time." Did I click it? What do you think?

I flew over to Rolling Stone's website and started reading through the list. My first thought was something mean and angry regarding their pick for number one. My second thought was "I must blog this."

So I opened up blogger and spend a few minutes pasting in Rolling Stone's top 30 picks. (Post forthcoming.)

After awhile I looked up and realized it was nearing 6am, so I went back to bed. Finley woke up about an hour later, but Kristen was kind enough to let me sleep. I woke up about 8 and took over. Krist laid back down for a bit. I got breakfast for the kids, cuddled with them on the couch, picked up the kitchen a bit...nothing major.

Once Kristen gets back up, Jonah and I head upstairs for a Transformer battle. He's been really into his Bionicle toys lately, but I think watching Optimus and his boys last night reminded the kid that he has dozens of Transformers in his room. We go upstairs and battle for awhile. Originally, Mudflap tried to ambush Hot Rod. Hot Rod couldn't stay in the fight and called in Optimus. Before Optimus got there, another Autobot named Landmine showed up and try to settle things down, but Mudflap knocked him down and stomped him until he was dead. But have no fear - Optimus showed up, went into "Super Mode" and destroyed the bad guy in just a few seconds.

Jonah and I came downstairs and he found some other brand of toys he wanted to play with. I headed back to the treadmill and ran a few miles. I'm really enjoying the running these days. And the treadmill really helps me maintain my pace. I plan on marking off some running paths around the house here over the next few months to mix it up a little.

After the treadmill, I grabbed a shower and started getting ready for our date!

Friday was our Tenth Anniversary. For ten years, Kristen Carnley has filled my life with laughter and joy and purpose. She taught me how to be a better follower of Jesus, she's given me two amazing kids (who seemed to get all their good traits from her,) and she makes our home my favorite place to be.

Because we try to keep a pretty consistent routine for the kids at night, we try to do our dates earlier in the day. Kristen's mom got out of school at 1 and came home to take care of the kids.

We packed their bathing suits and headed over to mom-in-law's ("Sugar's") house. She had the kiddie pool pulled out for them and they could not wait to jump in! We got them settled and then headed to eat. The original plan had been to see a matinee and then grab an early dinner before picking up the kids. However, we were so hungry that we skipped the movie. Plus, there was nothing that we wanted to see. (Where are those summer blockbusters when you need them?) So, we chose "late lunch" over "early dinner."

As many of you know, restaurant options are not that great. I figured we'd do Olive Garden or maybe even head to Nacogdoches to eat. Imagine my surprise when Kristen tells me she wants salmon from Logan's! So we go to Logan's. (That was fine with me. Any place that keeps bringing warm yeast rolls to your table is a five-star in my book.)

Thanks to the generosity of my parents, I had a crisp, clean $100 bill in my wallet and we wanted to spend it! We decided that we'd live a little and instead of rushing out and buying each other a gift, we'd go out and buy our own. That might sound weird, but we thought it was really fun.

So, after lunch, we run by Target to pick up some stuff and I then I head over to Game Stop. Yes. I bought a video game with my money. I'm a nerd. But it was really cheap and it left me lots of cash leftover.

We hop back in the car and Kristen is driving.

"What do you want to do now?" I ask.

What happened next managed to fill up about four hours. However, to avoid "stealing thunder," I will simply direct you HERE to find out what happened. (Don't worry...I'll eventually fill you all in my experience when I'm able.)

After that, which you can read on Kristen's blog, we finally headed back to pick up the kids from "Sugar's." When we got there, they were tan, tired and ready to see Mom and Dad after a full afternoon of playing outside in the pool.

We gathered them up, packed up their gear and headed home. Finley fell asleep in the car (actually right at her normal bedtime!) Jonah lounged on the couch for about half-an-hour and then went to bed.

It was a great day. (And my new game is awesome.)

A Message from Daddy and Finley...

Monday Fun...

I had a rehearsal Monday night for the Hunt the Spot event I'm doing for FBC here in town. The practice was in Nacogdoches (right next door to Lufkin,) and I figured it would be a long one.

Usually when I have music or church related stuff at night, I try to cut out of work early and be at home for awhile. So, I left the church around 3:30 to get home.

As I was walkign to my car and admiring what a beautiful day it was, I had a brilliant idea. Something Jonah and I usually do when Summer comes every year. We hadn't done it yet, as summer's not "officially" here yet, but Monday was just too perfect...


WATERGUN BATTLE!

It was great. And then, as we were winding down, Finley came out and played on the swingset. Here are a few pictures that perfectly capture the afternoon!

Okay, okay...that picture of Kristen isn't from the WATERGUN BATTLE.

But she looks super hot and I can't stop staring at it.

Two Funny Things My Kids Have Said

Last week, when Ross was promoting the Andy Gullahorn show, he posted this picture at his Ross King World Tour blog and titled his post "The Best Songwriter I Know."

Jonah who knows about blogs and can read like nobody's business, leans over and reads the title in his sweet little six-year old voice.


"The - best - song = writer - I - know."

He then looks at Kristen and me says, "That doesn't look like Daddy..."

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I was reading CNN online the other day and Finley crawled up on the couch. She sees a picture of Prince Harry and taps the screen quickly, saying,

"Da-da!"



So, one kid thinks I'm the world's best songwriter and the other thinks I'm British royalty.

Am I a great parent, or what?

OUR LITTLE MODEL...

Awhile back, Finley won a little contest for a local photography studio in town.

She had her photo shoot today and HERE are some results!

FAMILY LIFE...

This morning, Finley was watching "My Friend Tiger and Pooh" and rifling through one of our DVD drawers.

She pulls out a DVD of "Black Beauty" and brings it to me.

"You want to watch THIS?" I asked her.

She gave me one of of her quick little nods, so I popped it in. She sat down in front of the TV, ready for pure entertainment. Finley adores animals.

She grins all the way through the credits and then the movie starts.

It opens, of course, with a shot of a giant black horse laying down in a pasture.

And she looks over at me with this terrified, shocked look, as if to say: WHAT'S THIS? A MOVIE ABOUT A HORSE? I DO NOT APPROVE.

She looked scared for a few seconds, then sat down and started watching the movie. She stayed glued to the TV for almost the whole thing.

Kids...always an adventure! (Maybe I should ask her what scared her so bad...)

Stuff You See On The Sidewalk...

When leaving the church this afternoon, I noticed a white truck as it whipped into a parking space. Our church houses 2 after-school programs: 1 for middle school students that we manage and another for younger children that's managed by an outside business. (They rent our buildings, so to speak.)

This particular truck pulled into the "younger" program parking, and I wouldn't have normally noticed, but because I was about to leave, I was watching out for after-school traffic.

I see a guy, a "dad," get out of the truck and head into the building. From the passenger seat, his son gets out and starts following. I was too far away to hear the exchange, but my six years as a father allowed me the unique ability to immediately comprehend the situation.

I watched as the dad's shoulders slumped and spoke through a sigh:

"Get back in the truck."

The son made some sort of retort, something like I-want-to-come-too or I-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom, to which Dad again spoke, this time with exasperation all over his face. This time he pointed, too.

"GET back in the truck."

The son, fearing grounding or worse, darted back to the truck, but I couldn't help feeling for them both.

I saw a tired dad. A guy who's had to wear that stupid tie all day and who's looking at another hour or so of running errands, picking up groceries and getting kids home in time for dinner. A guy who probably isn't paid enough to justify the hours he puts in. I saw myself in that guy.

I feel for the guy - I think most moms and dads can totally identify with that exasperated state wherein all we want is simply for the kids to obey, but I also ended up for feeling sorry for the kid, too, because his dad just looked bothered. He looked as if he didn't want anything to do with his son.

I suddenly remembered all those times in my life when I speak out of my exhaustion - times where I'm tired and I seemingly want everyone to know it...even the people I love the most.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I told myself not to over analyze, not to try to color that scene with my emotions. But I couldn't help it.

All I could think of was how horrified I would be if folks saw me acting like that to my kids. I don't mind disciplining my kids (even in public) if need be, but I hope to never communicate in any shape, form or fashion that I'm tired of them.

These two little ones are absolute gifts from God. Both of them protected through stressful and life-threatening illnesses; both of them granted with intelligence and humor and eyes that shine like nothing I've seen before or since; both of them God's and loaned to Krist and me for a time. I may grow tired, but they'll not ever think they've somehow sunk in importance...that they're bothering me...that they are a nuisance.

So, thanks to you, Dad and Son. Your little exchange on the church sidewalk today might have been kinda' ugly, but it was just the reminder I needed. I hope you both get some sleep tonight and end up playing together very soon.

Finley Grace...

Shot this Saturday night before the kids went to bed...BEWARE...the cuteness may be too much to handle!

Dad, can I have . . .